Page 20 of Claiming What's Mine
Why would I want to taint the only happiness I had by feeding it garbage. Being with Blue made me happy, I never wanted the two worlds to cross.
It was better to forget it, to push it down into the depths of my stomach and lock it away. Not Blue though, she always felt everything. Right then, she was feeling agitated and annoyed, not at me, not at the fact that I hadn't shown up. She was upset for the secret I was trying to keep.
I think she had expected I would have told her by now, that our years of friendship would have been all I needed to know I could trust her.
She was wrong if she thought I didn't trust her. It wasn't that I wanted to keep a secret from her, but this wasn't a secret worth sharing. I wanted to protect her from it, from this life, fromhim.
I couldn't imagine losing her.
Grunting, Blue rested her shoulder against the door. “Last chance to just let me in on your own.” Setting the side of her foot against the trim of the door, she braced herself for a push and shove match.
“My father's sleeping.”
“I watched him leave already, I know he's not here.” Looking up at me under hooded lids, she smiled. “We both know he ain't coming home anytime soon. I'll be gone long before then.”
“Blue—” I started to say, but she cut me off.
“Fine, have it your way. Looks like I'm forcing my way in.” With one hard shove, Blue slammed against the door and pushed it open.
I didn't have the energy to fight her, not that morning. Any other day I would have been able to fend her off, she would never have made it into my house. But I was too tired to put any real effort in.
“Fine, have it your way.” Taking a step back, Blue was still using all her power, rushing full force—until I stood down.
Taking a step to the side, the door flew open as she stumbled over the threshold, barely keeping her balance as her arms flipped in wide circles and her legs wobbled back and forth.
Letting out a gasp, she grabbed the counter and stopped herself from falling forward. “What the heck, Jay, you could have given me some warning before—” Her voice trailed off as her eyes expanded. “Oh wow, Jay, I. . . wow,” she said, lifting her thumb to my eye and running the pad across my eyebrow. “Does it hurt?”
“I'm fine,” I snapped, brushing her hand away. “What did you want? Why are you here?”
Blue softened her expression, resting her hand on the handle of the basket she was carrying. “You're not fine and you know it.” Setting down the basket, she looked around. “Where's your first aid kit?”
“If we had one anywhere, it'd be in there.” Pointing to the door on the far side of the kitchen, she turned and walked away quickly. I could hear her moving things around, and dropping stuff into the the porcelain sink.
“What are you doing?” I asked, leaning to try and see.
“I'm helping.”
“Blue, stop, I said I was fine.”
“Have you actually looked in the mirror?” Opening cupboards and digging around through drawers, her voice was muffled as she spoke. “Because I don't think you'd be asking me that if you had.”
I knew I could feel what my father had done on the inside. I hurt everywhere, not one inch of my body wasn't screaming in pain, wishing to be numb. But how bad could it really be?
“I'm fine, how many times do I need to tell you that?”
With her arms full of stuff, she came back into the kitchen and dropped it all on the small table. “Sit,” she demanded, her arms hanging with precision at her sides.
“Blu—”
“Sit down right now, Jayden Henry or so help me—”
“Alright, alright, I'll sit.”
That tone, when she used that tone my body just reacted, following her orders. The command and power in her voice was so intense I didn't have a choice.
Blue organized the items on the table, putting them in some type of order that she saw in her head. She had band-aids, alcohol, and the old, dirty first-aid kit we'd had for as long as I could remember.
Blue went to the sink and washed her hands, wiping them dry with some of the toilet paper she gathered. Leaning over me, she gripped my chin and lifted my head higher. I could see my reflection in her giant pupils, my swollen eyes and the gash across one eyebrow.
